Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009
Cardinals' Morey says he played with concussion
Comments (0) | 
E-Mail
Print
tool name
closeArizona Cardinals wide receiver and special teams player Sean Morey says he played with a concussion against the Chicago Bears last Sunday even though he has taken a lead role in raising awareness of head injuries.
"I just downplayed my symptoms and didn't communicate well enough with my training staff so they weren't able to do their job effectively," Morey said on Thursday.
Morey hasn't practiced this week because of the concussion. He said he convinced himself that the head injury - sustained in a game against Carolina - was connected to his flu symptoms and acknowledges that maybe it was "wishful thinking" on his part.
Last month, Morey was named co-chair of the NFL Players Association concussion and traumatic brain injury committee.
Morey, who came down with the flu the day after the Carolina game, said he didn't think it was a mistake to play against the Bears.
"I think my flu symptoms complicated the situation," he said, "and I felt like if I could go out and play with better technique, use my hands and limit the helmet-to-helmet contact, then I'd be able to play through it."
Morey, who made the Pro Bowl as a special teams player last season, says he understands that people might think he wasn't practicing what he has preached. He repeated his advice that head injuries shouldn't be covered up.
"That's the only message that players need to hear, whether it be a college athlete or a high school athlete, that you can't continue to downplay or lie about symptoms," Morey said. "You can't ignore the risk of concussions."
However, he said that in the NFL, the issue is complicated by the players' obligation and desire to play, no matter what.
"No player wants to take a day off or get a free lunch," he said. "All the players that play this game are hard-wired to do their job because they have a deep loyalty to their teammates and their owners."
This week, he said, he is following proper procedures and wouldn't return to practice or games until cleared to do so.
"I'm communicating with my training staff and allowing them to do their job," he said.
Morey, in his 10th NFL season, won't say how many concussions he has had, only that it's "more than I'd like to admit."
What you should know about comments on SanLuisObispo.com
SanLuisObispo.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. See our full terms of service here.
Here are some rules of the road:
- Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
- Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
- Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
- Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and leave him a public message.
- Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
- Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
- Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
- Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
You should also know that The Tribune does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at webmaster@sanluisobispo.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the username of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to webmaster@sanluisobispo.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.
About comments
Reader comments on SanLuisObispo.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Tribune. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.